Matt McGowan grew up in Webb City, Missouri. He attended Missouri Southern State College (now University) and the University of Missouri, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in journalism. He was a newspaper reporter and now works as a science and research writer at the University of Arkansas. His stories have appeared in Adirondack Review, Deep South Magazine, Concho River Review, Arkansas Review and others. His story “Sucker Flats,” published in Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies, was nominated for The Pushcart Prize in 2020. His first novel, 1971, was published by Auxarczen Press in 2021. McGowan lives with his wife and children in Fayetteville, Arkansas. When he isn’t writing, he swims, rides his bicycle, canoes and hikes in the Ozarks. Sometimes he runs, when his body allows it. He has children and stepchildren, two Dachshunds and a black cat with green eyes. More information about Matt and his books is available on his website.